The Ukrainian State Bank reported that two cash-in-transit cars with money and gold were detained in Budapest, and the location of seven employees is currently unknown. The detained cars contained valuables worth 40 million US dollars, 35 million euros and 9 kg of gold.
This was reported by the press service of Sberbank, informs the portal PromPolitInform.
The bank said that on March 5 in Hungary two vehicles of the collection service with seven employees of the collection brigade were unreasonably detained. At that time, they carried out regular transportation of foreign currency and precious metals between Raiffeisen Bank Austria and Oschadbank Ukraine.
According to the bank, the detained cars contained valuables worth 40 million US dollars, 35 million euros and 9 kg of gold.
Thanks to the GPS signal, it was possible to establish the location of the cars – they stand in the center of Budapest near one of the power structures of Hungary. This was also confirmed by Ukrainian diplomats in Hungary. At the same time, the location of the collectors themselves is currently unknown.
Oschadbank demands the immediate dismissal of its employees and the return of property to Ukraine. The bank noted that the management is in touch with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and law enforcement agencies to coordinate further actions.
Foreign Minister of Ukraine Andriy Sibiga said that the actions of the Hungarian side look like “taking hostages and stealing money.”
“In fact, we are talking about the fact that Hungary took hostages and stole money. If this is the “power” that Mr. Orban spoke about today, then this is the power of a criminal gang. This is state terrorism and racketeering. We have already sent an official note demanding the immediate release of our citizens,” he said.
According to Sibiga, the reasons for the detention of bank employees, their state of health and the possibility of communication with them are currently unknown. He specified that all seven Ukrainians are employees of the state-owned Oschadbank, which transported funds and valuables between Austria and Ukraine as part of regular operations between state-owned banks.
The minister also said that Ukraine will appeal to the European Union: “We will also appeal to the European Union with a request for a clear qualification of Hungary’s illegal actions, hostage-taking and robbery,” he added.
The National Bank of Ukraine also calledon the Hungarian authorities to immediately release the citizens of Ukraine, explain the reasons for their detention and provide information about the location of the collection vehicles and cargo.
Aggravation of the political conflict between Budapest and Kyiv
The situation is taking place against the backdrop of a new round of political conflict between Kyiv and Budapest. The day before, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was ready to give the Ukrainian military the phone number of “a person blocking assistance from the European Union,” apparently referring to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
“We hope that one person in the EU will not block 90 billion or the first tranche and Ukrainian soldiers will have weapons. Otherwise, we will give the address of this person to our APU. Let them call him and communicate with him in their own language,” Zelensky said.
These words caused a resonance in Hungary. The leader of the opposition Tisa party, Peter Magyar, called on Zelensky to apologize for the “threats” against Orban.
On the same day, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that Budapest would force Kyiv to resume transit through the damaged Druzhba pipeline and would do so “by force.”
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